What Was He Thinking?
by gigi14.15
Summary: This is just Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy from Zack's point of view. There will be a few added scenes that aren't in the book.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was sitting in my favorite place in the whole castle – a tucked away window seat. I know, I know, a spy's favorite place should probably be something more secretive or "special", but when I was sitting there I just felt peaceful.

Yeah, you read that right. I'm a spy, along with all of my friends. We go to a school called Blackthorne Institute for Boys. Obviously most people don't know that we are spies, so our cover is a really snooty boarding school.

Most of my friends go home for the holidays, but I stay at the school. I really don't have anywhere to go, since my mom went MIA about 10 years ago, when I was 6. My dad is still with me, but we don't own a house. That's because he is headmaster of Blackthorne, so we just live in the castle. Everyone assumes I get special advantages just because I am "Zachary Goode, the Headmaster's son," but really I don't. Okay, fine, I was lying. But I don't get many. Basically I just get to dorm with whomever I want – which is Grant, Jonas, and Seth.

Which brings me back to what I was originally saying: I was sitting in my window seat, waiting for one of my friends to arrive. School was starting in exactly 2 days, 17 hours, 10 minutes, and 34 seconds and they needed to show up soon. Most of the boys were already back, but not Grant, Seth, or Jonas.

I was startled out of my thinking by someone's arm wrapping around my neck in a tight chokehold. Most people would freak out here, but being a spy (not to mention a _good _one), I simply performed the Heindelsky Maneuver on my would-be-attacker, effectively throwing him on the floor under my foot. Then I started laughing uncontrollably.

My best friend Grant was sprawled on the floor under my foot, looking quite shocked for a moment. Then he joined in on my laughter, but I had the feeling he was laughing at me, not with me. So I pushed down harder with my foot, of course. I think Grant would have jumped up and attacked me then (I so could have taken him) but we both heard a familiar voice saying, "Hey guys! Not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Jonas!" we exclaimed together, then looked at each other, weirded-out by our accidental jinx. Jonas helped Grant up and started telling us all about his summer. He rambled, "And I hacked into the CSI files to find out about the _really_ wanted criminals, then I thought one of them looked like my neighbor, so I made this device to put in his house that would tell me every single sound, sight, and smell in there. Then when I looked at the readings, I wished I hadn't put in the smells part because he farted a _lot_!"

Grant and I started laughing again. We were boys, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The fact that there is a disclaimer kinda proves that the Gallagher Girls isn't mine…

Chapter 2

Grant and Jonas had shown up rather late, so we started to the Welcome-Back-Dinner right away. I had just eaten a few hours ago, but my stomach was already rumbling. I would have to work on controlling that – it could give me away during a mission.

The three of us walked up to the Grand Hall doorway, but knew better than to step right in. The open doorway was crisscrossed with invisible lasers that would slice right through our skin. Not a pretty picture. We not-so-patiently (hey, some of us hadn't eaten for hours) waited for the scanners to recognize our fingerprints and retinas. While we were standing there, I noticed a group of seventh graders staring at us. I wasn't that shocked. I mean, the three of us are a rather mismatched group. Jonas is small and weak looking (he really isn't that weak – and I've got the bruises to prove it), and on the Research track. He is a computer genius and can hack anything. When he was five, he got into the CIA's top secret files. Does that tell you how talented he is?

Grant is tall and muscular. He is blond, while both Jonas and I have dark hair. Grant looks like the guy who lifts weights for 10 hours a day. He doesn't seem that smart at first, but he does have his genius moments occasionally. Actually, in all honesty, Grant is the second best spy in our year.

I'm the first best, of course. Which explains why I knew something strange was going on as soon as I saw Dr. Steve's face. That, and he has the most expressive face ever.

As we stepped over the threshold, I whispered to my friends, "Hey guys, something's up. Look at Dr. Steve's face. By the way, do either of you know where Seth is?"

Grant and Jonas both glanced at Dr. Steve, then back at me. Jonas said, "Actually, I haven't heard from Seth since last semester. I hope he's okay."

Grant chimed in, "Judging by the look on his face, we get to do something fun today! Plus, listen to Mr. Solomon."

I swiftly glanced at Mr. Solomon, our Covert Operations, or CoveOps, teacher. He was talking quietly with my dad, Headmaster Goode. There was nothing strange about that except for the fact that he was switching languages every few words! They must have a pretty big secret to be that careful.

Just then, Mr. Solomon glanced up and our eyes met. He mouthed, "Get all the juniors outside. Pop quiz," and smiled. I looked at my friends and smirked. "Guess what, guys?"

Grant groaned. "We don't have time for your guessing games, Zach! What is it?"

"Yeah, Zach, come on. Hey, do you know where Seth is? Is that is?" Jonas was practically jumping up and down.

"Actually, I know what's going on. We've got a mission. And that mission is…" I trailed off mysteriously, completely enjoying myself. Grant and Jonas glared at me, then looked pointedly away. I continued, "That mission is to get all the juniors outside."

Once we had convinced everyone that yes, they really did need to leave their food and come with us and no, we didn't know if they would get to eat later, all the juniors gathered outside. Most of the group looked around excitedly, hoping to catch a glimpse of the vans that had always taken us on our missions last year. I, personally, didn't see any form of transportation, but that definitely didn't mean it wasn't there.

"Zach, I thought you said we had a mission! Where are our vans?" Paul whined. Sometimes I forgot he was a junior; he acted so young!

Paul started to speak again but his words were drowned out by a loud, mechanical noise. Our entire group automatically ducked and rolled out of the way of the helicopter hovering above us. The funny thing is, we managed to have conversations while doing so.

"Yes! We get to ride in a helicopter! Oh, this is awesome!" Grant yelled from 14 feet to my left.

"Wonder where we're going!" I shouted back.

Mr. Solomon stepped out from the helicopter door and gestured to us to come aboard. We gladly jumped up and climbed through the small doorway. However, our enthusiasm diminished when we saw inside; it was anything but spacious. We were sitting almost on each other's laps, which was awkward to say the least. Mr. Solomon started passing out files to us with covers in them. I scanned mine quickly, memorized it, and tore it up. It basically said that my name was Zach Sharons, I went to a fancy boarding school, and I was here for a field trip with my class. All at least _close_ to the truth. Then Mr. Solomon said something that really shocked me. And it takes a lot to shock me.

"Gentlemen, your mission today is something new. You are going to tail spies that are as good as, or maybe better, than you. They will be employing every counter-surveillance method in the books. But, don't gloat if you win. You have the easier job." Then he stepped out of the helicopter and walked away.

Grant and I crawled to the door, shoulder to shoulder. We had a silent shoving match at the doorway to see who got to crawl out first. Suffice it to say, my shoulder is still sore.

Grant turned back towards me and said with surprise clearly written on his face, "It's the Mall!"

"Cool," our entire group chorused. Malls are an easy place to track people. But Grant burst our bubble by saying, "No, I mean the Mall in Washington, D.C."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I think we've already established that I DO NOT OWN GALLAGHER GIRLS!

Chapter 3

We crawled out of the helicopter door and looked around in awe. I was pretty certain that none of us had ever been here before, at least in person. I _know_ that some of us have at least seen the capital through a camera lens. Anyways, we all stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. After all, we didn't even know who we were supposed to be tracking! I shoved my hands in my pocket from habit, then pulled them out of my pocket from curiosity. I called to the guys, "Check your pockets," then looked down at the magenta evapopaper in my hand. It had a photo stapled to it of a group of girls, 15 to be exact. I pulled the picture off the evapopaper and held it closer to my face to examine it. Three girls in the center immediately caught my eye. It seemed as though they were the queen bees, but I wasn't sure how I knew this from only a picture.

One of the girls had choppy black hair and perfect features. Her face looked strangely familiar to me, but I wasn't sure where from.

The second girl was exotic looking, with glowing cappuccino skin. The picture wasn't very well detailed, but I could see that she had large brown eyes and shiny brown hair.

I would've thought that both the girls were beautiful if not for the girl standing between them. Even from this picture I could tell that her hair was a rich mix of light brown, mahogany, and chestnut. And yes, I know colors besides the basic 8-pack CRAYOLA box. Her smile lit up her entire face, making her glow. Her eyes were not looking at the camera; she was partly turned toward the strangely familiar girl. For some reason, it really bothered me that I couldn't see her eyes. I just wanted to know what they looked like.

Then, a thought popped into my head. These girls looked like the same age as us! Was there another spy school? For girls?

I looked up at my friends, only to find them all staring at me. I glanced at their hands. They had notes, but no photos attached.

Grant asked me, "What's in the picture, Zach? You looked like your eyes were about to pop out of your head." Thanks for that image, Grant.

I handed him the picture. "I think there's a spy school for girls. And I think we're supposed to tail them."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: This is the last time I'm doing this thing. Anything you have heard of before, I don't own and/or profit from.**

Chapter 4

Grant examined the picture I had handed him. He looked at the note from his pocket then back at the photo. "I'm trailing this one," he proclaimed, pointing at one of the girls.

I snatched the note from his hand. It said "7th from the left." I realized that I hadn't even looked at my note yet. I was hoping that I would get to trail the girl in the middle, if only to see her eyes.

"8th from the left," I read quietly, not showing my internal excitement, "Looks like our girls are friends."

Then I started passing the picture around and told my friends to pair off. Of course, Grant and I were partners. We walked off in a random direction, not knowing which way to go. I suggested, "How about we just sit on that bench? It seems like everyone walks past there at some point."

"Looks like you were wrong for once, Zack," Grant laughed. We had been sitting on the same bench for 2 hours, with no sightings of anyone's trailees. It seemed as though the entire country, minus fifteen girls, had passed by us.

"Oh, shut up, Grant. Just because you're – hey, girl at nine o'clock," I interrupted myself. I saw the girl Grant was supposed to be trailing fling her arms out wide and tilt her head back, laughing. I read her lips as she said, "And here the view is infinitely better." I smirked, knowing she wasn't talking about the capitol building. She glanced toward us, throwing her arm around a girl that I somehow hadn't noticed before. Holy crap, it was my girl! Wait, no, I meant the girl I was supposed to follow. 'My girl' sounded a little weird, but strangely right at the same time.

She must be a seriously good pavement artist. I would never have seen her until the other girl exposed her. The first girl spun around and as they came closer I could hear her say, "Oooh, I want one!" Grant had obviously been listening as well, because he said, "She can have me if she wants!" I knew we were both obviously staring, but I was hoping it would pass as normal teen male behavior, because I didn't know if I could look away.

The girls continued on past us, not even giving us a second glance. Grant and I looked at each other, nodded slightly, and rose up from the bench. We slipped into the crowd effortlessly and did our job – we trailed the girls. However, that was easier said than done. They went in one museum entrance and out another. Up escalators only to come down them two minutes later. They made sudden stops and tied their shoes way too often for them to have really come untied. It was a good thing me and Grant were the best spies in our class, because they were pretty amazing. Especially the girl I was trailing – if she had been by herself, I really would never have seen her.

The sun was sinking low on the horizon when the girls cut across the Mall. It was an open area, so we waited a bit to follow them. I glanced away for one second, and when I looked back they were gone. "Grant, where did they go?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

He chuckled. "Losing your touch, Zachy? They just jumped in that group of girls there." I grumbled under my breath and strode toward the escalator the girls had stepped on. Grant hurried after me. I was a bit surprised when the group of civilians turned toward us, pointing us out to the spies we were trailing.

"Wonder what they're talking about," I muttered.

Grant answered jokingly, "My amazing good looks, of course! Oh, and you."

"Shut up and pay attention!" I scolded as the group of civilian girls ran toward an open elevator. I noticed Grant's girl slip underneath the escalator, but didn't see my girl anywhere.

"Looks like we have to split up. Meet you at wherever we're trailing them to," I said confidently to Grant. He grinned in my direction and hurried toward his girl.

I knew that I would never find my trailee just by looking, so I decided arbitrarily to go up the elevator. Shockingly, she was standing there too, about to push the button. I rushed up and slipped my hand in, pushing it before she did.

"Hey," I said, nodding my head at her, only casual on the outside. Why wouldn't she look at me? I just wanted to see what her eyes looked like. If they were anything like the rest of her, they would be gorgeous.

"Hi," she answered, sounding annoyed. The elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside. I followed, close on her heels. As I leaned against the railing, I noticed her looking at my reflection on the shiny surface of the elevator doors.

"So, the Guggenheim Academy," I started, purposely mispronouncing her school's name.

"Gallagher Academy," she corrected me.

"I've never heard of it," I challenged her. An unidentifiable emotion flickered across her face. She was probably laughing inside, thinking, "That's the point."

Instead she replied, "Well, it's my school." She still hadn't looked me in the eye, so I continued with my questioning. "You in a hurry or something?

"Actually, I'm supposed to meet my teacher at the ruby slipper exhibit. I've only got twenty minutes, and if I'm late, he'll kill me," she told me anxiously. I was surprised. Had she really just told me where the meeting point was? Then I thought of a way to catch her. "How do you know?"

She looked at me with a 'duh' face. "Because he said, 'Meet me at the ruby slipper exhibit.'"

I couldn't help it, I smiled. "No, how do you know you only have twenty minutes? You're not wearing a watch." I smirked triumphantly, sure that I had won.

However, right away she answered, "My friend just told me." She was a pretty good liar. But she fidgeted a lot. I decided to tell her. "You fidget a lot."

"I'm sorry," she said, but I could detect a hint of sarcasm buried beneath her manners. "I have low blood sugar. I need to eat something." I totally didn't believe that lie, but I stuck with my cover. I noticed her jump to attention when I started shuffling through my pockets to find the candy I had bought earlier. I extended the bag of M&Ms toward her, explaining, "Here, I ate most of them already."

She stammered, "Oh…um…That's okay. Thanks, though."

For some reason, it made me happy that she was cautious and wary of strangers. But I just said, "Oh, okay."

The elevator doors finally slid open, letting us out into the Mall.

"Thanks again for the candy," she called as she darted out of the elevator. I rushed after her, knowing that I would lose her if I even blinked. Unexpectedly, she spun on her heel and asked, "Where are you going?" Strange, I thought I had been following her very sneakily.

I just put a confident expression on my face, "I thought we were going to meet your teacher in the wonderful world of Oz." I snickered inside, wondering how she would react to that.

"_We?_" she asked, her forehead wrinkling. Her face was so cute when she was confused.

"Sure. I'm going with you."

"No, you're not," she snapped. She was even cuter when she was annoyed. I saw a flicker of emotions in her eyes, among them sadness. I wondered who had made her sad, and inexplicably felt angry.

I simply said, "Look, it's dark. You're by yourself. And this_ is_ D.C." She looked like she was about to laugh. I continued, "And you've only got…fifteen minutes to meet your teacher." I pretended to think about how long she had, because obviously normal people don't have clocks in their heads. I was actually off by 87 seconds, but again, I was pretending to be normal.

She sighed and turned away. "Fine."

"You can walk really fast!" I exclaimed, as if I was having trouble keeping up. Yeah, right! I could beat her in a race any day. She didn't answer me. I tried again. "So, do you have a name?" I asked innocently.

"Sure. Lots of them," she said nonchalantly. I smiled at her, thinking it was probably the most truthful thing she had said to me yet. Then I decided to annoy her some more.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" I asked, watching for her reaction. She looked shocked, surprised, and then sad and ashamed. I wanted to understand her emotions so badly, even more so than I wanted to look in her eyes.

She muttered, "Look, thanks for the chivalry and all, but it really isn't necessary. It's just up here. And there's a cop over there."

I put a hurt look on my face, "What? You think that guy can do a better job protecting you than I can?"

She looked like she was about to crack up, but just said, "No, I think if you don't leave me alone, I can scream and that cop will arrest you." She sounded pretty serious too. Ouch. I smiled at her and started to walk away.

"Hey, thanks anyway!" she called, sounding guilty. I nodded at her and continued walking away. As soon as she was out of sight, I sprinted to the back door of the building and raced inside. I sprinted to the Dorothy exhibit, earning me a few glares from tour guides. I finally saw her hurrying up the stairs, holding a map in her hand. I followed along behind her, then slipped into the shadows of the exhibit.

A man stepped out and said in a disapproving tone, "You're four seconds late." I assumed he was her teacher.

The girl spun around and proclaimed, "But I'm alone."

I was about to step out and tell her she was wrong, but the teacher surprised me by saying, "No, Ms. Morgan. You're not." Wow, he didn't miss much.

I stepped out of the shadows and smiled at her. "Hi again, Gallagher Girl."

I saw the shock clearly on her face, and the frustration at not recognizing me as a tail. The teacher turned toward me. He looked almost exactly like my CoveOps teacher, but with black hair instead of red. He said, "Nice work, Zack."

I ignored the fact that he knew my name and winked at 'Ms. Morgan'.

Then she looked at me and said, "Hi, Blackthorne Boy." How the heck did she know? I could tell that the teacher was surprised too.

My thoughts just stopped when she lifted her eyes and stared into mine. Her eyes were rich sapphire blue with flecks of gold in them. They seemed like deep wells, drawing me in to her. I couldn't believe what was happening – first staring at her in the picture for way too long, then not being able to break away from her eyes.

I had never felt this way about a girl before. But I liked it.


End file.
